Outlook 2016 Introduction

Lesson 5 – Using Outlook Messaging Features

Outlook 2016

W ORKING WITH M ESSAGE F ORMATS  D ISCUSSION

In Outlook, you compose messages in the Message window. Outlook provides several message formats you can use to create and edit e-mail. They include HTML , Outlook Rich Text , and Plain Text .

Hypertext Markup Language ( HTML ) is the default message format. HTML is the format used to create web pages for publication on the World Wide Web. HTML formatted messages can include text formatting, background colors, graphics, and multimedia objects such as animation, sound, and video clips. Entire web pages can be sent as e-mail messages.

The Outlook Rich Text ( RTF ) message format is a format that previous versions of Outlook and client programs using the Microsoft Exchange Server understand. It supports text formatting, such as bullets, linked objects, and alignment.

Plain text is a format that all e-mail programs understand. It does not, however, support many types of text formatting, such as bold and italic. In addition, plain text formatting does not support pictures in the message body, although they can be used as attachments.

Usually, you will not find it necessary to change your mail format since most recipient e-mail programs automatically convert HTML into plain text. You may, however, want to change the message format if you receive a plain text message and you want to reply to it or forward it in HTML , or if you know a particular recipient that you correspond with frequently uses another format.

C HANGING THE D EFAULT M ESSAGE F ORMAT  D ISCUSSION You can change the default message format for all new messages or change the message format for a single new message.

You may want to change your default message format to Plain Text if most of your correspondence is with Internet recipients who can only read plain text messages. You can change your default message format for new messages at any time using the Mail page – Compose Messages in the Options window.

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